DIY Handpainted Accent Wall – $100 Room Challenge Week 3

Create a DIY handpainted accent wall using paint and patterns! This budget friendly DIY handpainted wallpaper brings a big impact on a budget!

This DIY tutorial will teach you how to paint a DIY handpainted accent wall using supplies you might already have at home. You can create DIY handpainted wallpaper using just paint, a paintbrush and a level!

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This month I have joined up with some fellow bloggers for a $100 room challenge! My friend Erin at Lemons, Lavender and Laundry has been hosting this challenge for 5 years, and I love following along with all of her budget friendly makeovers!

I have been working on giving my laundry room a budget friendly makeover on a $100 budget. So far I have cleaned up the tile floor by scrubbing the grout with a magic eraser (and it actually worked like magic!!), painted our oak cabinets, purchased a new modern laundry hamper, and just finished painting the accent wall!

Here is the before:

Peel & stick wallpaper has been super popular over the last couple years! I used it in our last house for this modern farmhouse guest bathroom makeover (the gingham peel & stick wallpaper is still available here!) and it was a huge hit! Wallpaper can make a huge impact on a room, especially as an accent wall.

DIY Handpainted Wallpaper

I wanted to include a modern peel & stick wallpaper in my laundry room but just didn’t have the budget for it when trying to stick to spending $100. So I chose the next best thing – paint! By using a few supplies that I already had on hand (so it was completely FREE!) I created a DIY handpainted accent wall!

While browsing wallpaper designs I found this wallpaper from Magnolia Home that I loved. The simple hand-painted look of the pattern totally spoke to me! And best of all – this pattern seemed easy to re-create with a small paintbrush and some paint!

Materials Needed:

• Level (with ruler printed on the side)
• Pencil
• Paint (one color for background, one color for pattern)
• Small paintbrush

DIY Handpainted Accent Wall

First I started by painting the wall with the background color. The walls were originally an antique white (off-white) and I wanted a brighter white – so I painted the wall Ultra Pure White by Behr. I had some of this already in my leftover paint stash! I painted 2 coats on the wall for good coverage.

After the base coat was dry I started creating a guide for where to paint my shapes for my pattern. The pattern I picked has alternating plus signs and x’s, evenly spaced all around. Instead of painting it freehand, I wanted to keep everything aligned as closely as possible. So I used a level with a ruler printed on the side and a pencil to create dots every 4 inches.

I started by placing the level horizontally and marking a little dot every 4 inches (at the beginning of the level, at 4 inches, 8 inches, and 12 inches. Then I would place the level vertically and make another set of marks from my original ones, and work my way around marking every 4 inches! You essentially are creating a large grid of 4 inch squares.

Painting Your Pattern

After you have your dots on the wall, it’s time to start painting your pattern! I used a very tiny artist’s brush to paint alternating plus signs, and x’s. The plus signs are larger, and I made the small x’s around 2-3 times smaller. I liked keeping the sizes different to keep it visually interesting, like the original inspo wallpaper pattern.

I found that keeping a smaller amount of paint on the brush was the key to getting thin and clear paint strokes. If you load on too much paint to the brush it makes it harder to control the width of the brush strokes, and harder to keep them looking consistent. Because they have an organic hand-painted look, some variation is good but the amount of variation is up to you!

What do you think? I am loving how it turned out! Even my 2-year old commented on it when she saw the finished wall and said “Wow! It’s Wow!” I’m glad she’s on board with the direction of my design 😉

Laundry Room Makeover Checklist:

• Paint oak cabinets
• Spray paint cabinet pulls & install
• Paint accent wall
• Build wood shelf below cabinets
• Build DIY peg rack & board and batten
• Clean the floor tile grout
• Purchase a new laundry hamper
• Add a new light fixture
• DIY artwork

I’m so happy with how everything is coming together so far! My next project for our laundry room makeover is to build a peg rack & install board and batten along the back wall. This will help with storage and add some character to the room!

I’ll be using the pegs for hanging baskets for storage, and hanging up delicate items to air-dry. I can’t wait to show you the color I picked for this wall!

You’ll also love these DIY projects:

• Painted Bed Makeover
• How To Limewash a Fireplace
• Coffee Table Makeover
• How To Make An Easy DIY Cake Stand
• Guest Bathroom Makeover Reveal

For more home decor inspiration and DIY projects, follow along on Pinterest, Instagram & Facebook!